COLONIE  Documents pertaining to the landfill have been made public since the signing of the contract between the Town of Colonie and Waste Connections, and although Republican candidate for supervisor Denise Sheehan said they show the town underestimated the true value of the landfill, town maintains the numbers reveal otherwise.

Sheehan has claimed the town’s landfill was worth $600 million in gross revenue after reviewing a study from Clough Harbor and Associates, an engineering firm. She said she believes the town should have held out for a better deal other than the $100 million over 25 years it is expected to get from Waste Connections.

Department of Public Works Commissioner Jack Cunningham said that value, however, is not based in reality.

“I used to do real estate appraising,” he said. “The one thing you learn is you have the value set when you have a willing seller and a willing buyer. You can say something is worth $600 million, but no one is ever going to give us $600 million.”

In a study by Clough Harbor and Associates, published on May 23, it projected the amount of revenue the town could make if it had expanded the landfill in certain areas. If it expanded on the Southern end, it could realize $98.4 million per year in gross revenue with a net income of $9.1 million, along with increasing the lifespan another 10 years. If it were to do a South-West expansion, the site life would be extended by 31 years with an estimated $304.8 million in gross revenue over the life of the expansion and bring in a net income of $28.3 million. If it were to do a Northern expansion, it would add 6.5 years to the landfill’s lifespan and would bring $65.5 million in gross revenue over the life of the expansion with $6.9 million in gross income.